Scarborough: A shore thing in Narragansett

The Scarborough neighborhood also includes the Knowles Camp, a community of about 110 homes on 14 acres of leased land.

Christine Dunn Journal Staff Writer ChristineMDunn

NARRAGANSETT — Scarborough State Beach has 59.7 acres and about nine-tenths of a mile of beachfront to accommodate the big crowds that arrive at this popular beach on sunny summer days.

Directly to the west of the beach and its parking lots, between Ocean Road and Point Judith Road (Route 108), is a community of summer homes and cottages. According to the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, the streets between Scarborough and Point Judith Road were first built in 1887.

The first bathing pavilion at the beach was built in 1914, but this building was destroyed by fire in 1934, according to the commission’s Narragansett report. A new pavilion was completed in 1938; in 1988, this building was refurbished, and a second floor was added. The former Lido Beach (acquired by the state in 1981) and Olivo’s Beach (acquired in 1986) are now known as Scarborough South.

The length of the shoreline from Lido to North Scarborough is .85 of a mile, and north of Scarborough beach, the Black Point shoreline is an additional .63 of a mile, according to the state Department of Environmental Management.

To the north on Ocean Road are the historical mansions and estates of the Ocean Road Historic District and Narragansett’s Pier neighborhood.

South of the beach, near the Narragansett Grill restaurant and Aunt Carrie’s ice cream shop, foundation work has begun on The Break, Narragansett’s first “boutique” hotel, a 16-room hotel that is a project of local real estate businessman Jim Durkin, and his wife, Rebecca Durkin. The Durkins own more than 50 summer rental properties in town and manage summer rentals for more than 200 houses, he said.

Durkin said he hopes The Break, which will also include a restaurant and bar, will open in spring 2014. He said a legal battle with neighbors who oppose the project has slowed progress.

The owners of the Narragansett Grill, David and Cathy Baptista, were the original developers, but they became discouraged by the lengthy litigation process, which included a Superior Court ruling and a procedural question that reached the state Supreme Court. The neighbors lost their court battle, but they are now objecting to Durkin’s wish to alter the original hotel plans by adding small balconies to the building’s exterior, according to Michael DeLuca, Narragansett’s director of community development.

Durkin said he plans to have the hotel managed by the Lark Hotels, which also runs the Attwater in Newport, in addition to hotels in Nantucket, Newburyport, Mass., and Kennebunkport, Maine.

So far, 2013 “has been a great year for [house] sales” in the Scarborough Beach area, particularly in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, “which is very active,” Durkin said. For sales, 2013 “has probably been the best I’ve seen in five or six years.” Although there appears to be a lot of unsold inventory in the neighborhood as the summer nears its close, “some people just overprice their listings and they sit there,” he added. “That’s why you see those signs.”

The wet, cold weather of May and June affected the summer-house rental market in 2013, Durkin added, but July and August have been busy.

Current listings in the Scarborough area include a three-bedroom house at 20 Knowles Way, built in 1965 and priced at $489,000, a commercial property at 1 Angell Rd., asking price, $1.5 million, and a five-bedroom house at 12 Gaspee Rd., priced at $575,000.

The Scarborough neighborhood also includes the Knowles Camp, a community of about 110 homes on 14 acres of leased land. Owners aren’t allowed to rent out their property and must pay about $4,700 a year for their land lease. The camp is open from May to October and has town water and sewer service.

It’s a “nice alternative” for people who can’t afford to spend a lot for a vacation home, Durkin said. “It’s for people who can spend 50 to 350,” he said, and they can be “right on the beach.” Listings in Knowles Camp last week included a tiny cottage with a flat roof at 64 Burnside Ave., priced at $45,000, and a newly constructed house at 64-45 A Burnside Ave., which is listed for $154,900.